Five bullets The story of Bernie Goetz, New York's explosive '80s, and the subway vigilante trial that divided the nation

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

CNN legal analyst Williams debuts with a thorough reassessment of the 1984 subway vigilante shooting, when white 37-year-old Bernhard Goetz shot four Black teenagers on a New York City subway after one of the victims asked him for $5. Goetz, who claimed he feared being mugged, subsequently received an outpouring of popular support for having "struck back against the forces of decay" that plagued the city. The author explores troublesome aspects of both shooter and victims, from Goetz's overt bigotry to some of the victims' later incarceration for violent crimes. Following the case through its criminal and civil trials, Williams explains the often convoluted decisions, like the judge's banning of "open discussion" of race in the criminal trial--which didn't stop the defense from presenting "menacing" photos of the victims. He also tracks the prosecution's missteps--one prosecutor suggested that Goetz "pack his bags and go somewhere else"--and the judge's shocking permissiveness, seen most bizarrely in a live reenactment with four Black members of the Guardian Angels playing the victims at "their most blatantly thuggish." Both serve, in part, to explain how the jury acquitted Goetz. Williams explores how the central legal argument of the case--the "reasonableness" of Goetz's fear--still resonates today. It amounts to a sharp look at a touchstone moment in American conceptions of race, self-defense, and who "has a right to feel safe." (Feb.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Williams has written an outstanding account of Bernhard Goetz's December 22, 1984, shooting of four young Black men in a New York City subway car and the subsequent trial and fallout. Williams places the case in the context of an economically faltering NYC, conservative politicians and media stirring up invective, and the NRA's intervention on Goetz's behalf. He shows prosecutors wrestling with how to charge Goetz (nicknamed "the Subway Vigilante" in the press) and the difficulty of convincing a jury to convict him of more than unlawful possession of a weapon. Although the victims of the shooting did not participate in this book, Williams interviewed Goetz, his defense counsel, and courtroom and law enforcement personnel. Goetz is unrepentant, but Williams shows how his case demonstrates the limits of the law of self-defense. VERDICT Williams's book is well written, deeply researched, and presents important questions about race, fear, media bias, and the purpose of criminal law.--Harry Charles

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A fast-paced tale of one of New York City's defining moments unfolds in the 1984 subway shooting of four Black youths by Bernhard Goetz. Goetz, an eccentric loner who became an unlikely symbol of vigilante justice, claimed the four young men were attempting to mug him. The ensuing trial turned into a deeply polarizing media circus, exposing the city's fraught tensions over race, crime, and public safety. Journalist and legal analyst Williams offers a vivid portrait of 1980s New York and the social and economic pressures that shaped the backdrop of the case. Through brisk, evocative prose, the author captures the complexities of a troubled city and the crime that mirrored its contradictions. He deftly weaves in the roles of figures such as Ed Koch, Rudolph Giuliani, Al Sharpton, and Rupert Murdoch in crafting the public narrative of the "Subway Vigilante." Goetz, who fled the scene and vanished into a subway tunnel, was later urged to surrender by Murdoch's right-leaningNew York Post, which editorialized: "The editors and reporters of this newspaper understand your anger and frustration….We endure the same fear and anger that exploded in you on Saturday." Williams frames the courtroom clash between defense attorney Barry Slotnick and prosecutor Gregory Waples as a window into the city's struggles with racism, fear, and declining quality of life. The trial, he suggests, became a referendum on the public's faith in authorities to keep them safe. Williams concludes, "There are few undeniable truths to Bernhard Goetz's story. Two are that the media have tremendous power to create heroes and villains, and that they, more than anyone or anything else, created Bernhard Goetz." A lively and haunting account of five men linked by a shooting--echoing New York's enduring tensions over fear and race. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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